Quarterly Essay
April 2013
Mark Latham / Black Inc.
The Australian Labor Party (like David Bowie), is not dead yet. Putting aside a forgettable stint as Leader of the Opposition at the height of the Howard reign, and ignoring the usual right wing trope of the-man-as-nutter, Mark Latham has always been at his best as a political essayist, writer and thinker. Here he delves into his alma mater, a Labor Party beset by its own tin ear, cronyism, factionalism, political hacks, state level corruption, thuggery, utter incompetence and an antediluvian union mindset – a party cut entirely loose from its traditional raison d’être in community engagement and activism on behalf of ‘working Australians’.
It is through re-taking the lead in fighting poverty, striving for a fairer education system and above all taking on climate change – famously abandoned by Rudd – that Latham sees a clear path for Labor to return to find a purpose that would warrant the respect and support of the Australian people. Re-engaging, in other words, with the forgotten Keating legacy.
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